Fight Against Cancer: Sharing an Experience at a Medical College & Teaching Hospital in North Gujarat, India

Dr. Vijay Pandya*, Dr. Azhar Khan Mehmood khan Nayak¹, Dr. Bhargav Dave²

1. Dr. Azhar Khan Mehmood khan Nayak, Medical admin & business development Head, Shankus hospital, Mehsana, Gujarat.

2. Dr. Bhargav Dave, Assistant Professor, Dept Of Community Medicine, Nootan Medical College, Visnagar, Mehsana, Gujarat.

*Corresponding Author: Dr. Vijay Pandya, MBBS, MD (Community Medicine), Post Graduate Diploma in Healthcare Management.

Assistant Dean and Associate Professor, Nootan Medical College & Research Centre, Visnagar, District Mehsana, Gujarat, India.

Received Date:  February 22, 2021

Publication Date: March 01, 2021

In India, Non-communicable diseases including cancer are currently major public health problems as Epidemic Transition shows shifting of the trend of mortality and morbidity from Communicable diseases to Non-communicable diseases. These diseases are lifestyle-related, have a long latent period and need specialized infrastructure and human resources for treatment.

Cancer is a leading cause of chronic-disease related death all over the world. For control of cancer, implementation of four basic components, which all should be carried out holistically and synergistically.

1.   Prevention

2.   Early Detection

3.   Diagnosis & Treatment

4.   Palliative Care

One significant observation is that more than 30% of cancers are preventable so, Primary prevention is the most cost-effective prevention program for Cancer. It aims to reduce the incidence of cancer by risk factor identification and modification of lifestyle.

Nootan medical college and hospital, Visnagar, Dist. Mehsana, Gujarat, India (www.mbbs.spu.ac.in) runs various outreach activities at the village level for screening as well as early identification of various cancers which has been helping the needy people of rural areas of North Gujarat region to identify cancer at an early stage and prompt initiation of treatment. Various health education and awareness camps are conducted to educate people regarding identifying high-risk factors and behaviors, which can lead to cancer as well as they are guided regarding how to do self-examination and how to identify early warning signs of any cancer. Tobacco consumption, alcohol consumption and spicy-food consumption are very common in these areas. So, anti-Tobacco activities, focus on proper diet, exercise, stopping Alcohol Consumption Activities, Health camps for screening are the routinely organized activities that enable the community to promote and adopt healthy lifestyle strategies.

Our Nootan General Hospital is going to establish separate oncology and Onco-surgery department with state-of-the-art equipment facilities and well qualified and highly motivated staff who will be dedicated to prevention and cure for all types of cancers as well as provide palliative care to decrease cancer-related morbidity. At present we are having all medical specialty services with super specialty OPD services.

One more approach which can be helpful in the present era of the Internet and Social media is various online-based platforms that can give authentic information regarding all cancer-related queries and also provide guidance to the person regarding all the primary screening activities It provides a connection with specialists as well as other self-help groups. Recently, we have started using one such tool named, ‘Onco-digital’ (www.oncodigital.com) which is designed by a well-known Oncologist of our area Dr. Nirav Trivedi & the team of Shankus Hospital, Mehsana. This platform is exclusively designed for providing authentic information in the local language.

By Using this tool, training is started to be provided to doctors, health workers as well as the community by using videos. Interactive sessions are conducted for cancer awareness. Trainings for doctor/health care worker of Government healthcare system are also incorporated in such strategies which can appeal to mass population and helps the government to spread the benefits of the services in every corner of the country.     

Thus, Nootan Medical College and Hospital will surely make a difference in the fight against cancer in the entire North Gujarat region with all kinds of support from our own non-profit based organization ‘Nootan Sarv Vidyalaya Kelavani Mandal Trust’ and our Sankalchand Patel University, Visnagar.   

Volume 1 Issue 2 March 2021

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